I wouldn't have a serial killer. No, and you told me that you killed over 80 girls. >> Richard Cottingham killed who he wanted, when he wanted, because he's a serial killer. >> The game was being able to get away with it. The stalking. It was like the perfect every time. >> No, I'm going to do much. >> This is 68-year-old serial killer Richard Cottingham. Right now, [music] Richard is playing with these detectives as he realizes he's been caught for more than 80 murders he committed over the course of 50 years. >> But for everyone that I killed, I done this to 30 other girls. >> But Richard is one twisted, cunning old man and knows exactly what to say, because he's about to lead detectives on a goose hunt as they try and solve the murder spree that Richard has committed over the course of five decades. >> So, start from where >> You knew them all. Well, hold on. >> This cunning, cruel, manipulative serial killer says he wants closure. >> I was out there every night like an owl. Florida, Connecticut, and New York, and Tasmania, New [clears throat] Jersey, Florida, and more. >> This whole country was like a killing ground. >> It was early morning on May 22nd, 1980 when workers at a Quality Inn in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey were startled by an ear-splitting scream. It wasn't the screech of a fight or someone playing. It was the desperate cry of someone screaming for their life. Motel employees forced open the door of room 117, where they discovered 18-year-old Leslie Ann Odell thrashing and fighting for her life as 33-year-old Richard Cottingham attacked her. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back and Cottingham had a knife to her neck. Workers separated the two and held Cottingham until police arrived. Initially, they thought he was a sicko, a twisted man who had picked up a street worker to take advantage of. But what was in front of them was something that was somehow even worse. As Richard Cottingham was brought to trial for the kidnapping and attempted murder of Leslie Ann Odell. Four other victims came forward revealing the violence they had been through at the hands of Cottingham. As police looked deeper, they were able to connect Cottingham to not just assaults and attempted murder, but the murder and kidnapping of several women. In 1984, Cottingham was convicted of the murders of Valerie Ann Street, Mary Ann Carr, Deede Gordarzi, Mary Ann Jean Ghedini Rainer, and an unidentified Jane Doe. Those charges were enough to put him behind bars with the nickname the Torso Killer, due to the fact that he dis- several of his victims in hotel rooms. But, it didn't stop there. For the next several decades, police worked tirelessly to connect Richard Cottingham to other murders. In 2014, he was brought in and questioned regarding several murders in exchange for immunity. The interrogation you were about to see largely revolves around the assaults of a victim who survived. She was rescued by police, but nearby, Richard had put several other women in a well. Women who police are desperate to identify. Which means if they can find out where and when the supposed survivor was attacked, they can find additional victims. And maybe, just maybe, bring closure to some morning families. >> And how did you get her? How did she How did you end up getting her back in her car? Anything that helps me? >> No, she was get into a car and I just pushed my way in. >> Okay. >> That's how I would >> And then you take you take her car. >> Then you I pushed my way in. I I handcuffed her. I tied I didn't handcuff I tied her up. And then we just drove her up there. >> And that's where you left her? >> Yes. >> Tell Tell Describe it to me again. All right. So, this is >> We're talking about the other thing. >> We're talking about the When I drove you up there last time, did did anything look familiar? >> No. It looked a little bit different. >> Yeah, I knew it would be. >> And it it was all farmland there. >> Let me see. When we drove up there last time, I always went So start from where you're talking you redo it my way. Hold on. Just so I got it clear. The The street The street that the ice rink was on. Let me explain to you. This way you'll know everything I know about this, okay? Every time I went there, I came up the street going to that street. This was the field, the corn field that I always Well, it's back here. This time I came and it looked kind of wet and everything. So I didn't I used to just drive right off the road, drive back in and turn the car around and face and face this way. So I always knew even if a cop car came by and seen me from here, by the time he got back here, I was gone into the woods. So I never brought my car there. So this time, I went up to here and I I went around this way. So I pulled the car up this way and went in and I said, "Let me try over here. Maybe I'll find a new spot." And when I went in about 40 or 50 ft, the car stopped. I couldn't I got stuck in the mud. So we stayed there about 10 15 minutes and was talking and I I was trying to decide what to do. The cop car came up this way. And then he went by and then I seen him back up. So I knew he spotted the car already. So I got out of the car with her and I ran into the the woods. I didn't even know where I was going. Now the dogs The dogs in the next house started barking either from me or the cop car or whatever. So the dogs from that short trip So now I said, "Let me go over that way." So I stopped here and she started screaming. She heard the cop car and she's screaming. The cops were up there. They couldn't see where the screaming was coming from, but they they were right at empty car. But we were now 40 or 50 ft into the woods. >> And the empty car is the victim's car? >> Right. >> It's her car. >> Right. Her car was right right around here. We're We're back about here. I could see the cops cuz they had flashlights and everything, but they couldn't see me. But she could hear her screaming. So I panicked. I tried to shut her up. And then I took off. You mentioned >> Do you know for sure how many times >> At one time. >> Okay. >> Right in the face. >> Oh, it was definitely in the face. >> Cuz she was screaming. I used to panic. I was trying I was trying to shut stop her from screaming. >> And [clears throat] she would have been tied up in some way? >> At that point, I don't I don't even know if She might have been even been loose. >> She might have been untied up. >> Cuz we were in the car for about 10 15 minutes before that cuz I couldn't tie her. I was I didn't know what to do. I couldn't back out. I couldn't go forward. So and So I didn't know what to you know, I didn't want to hurt the girl ahead. You know, that I wouldn't have done that. So and [clears throat] if the cop car didn't come by, I don't know what I would have done. I In fact, I was thinking about getting out and pushing the car. I can tell you she was dressed and she had a suit on. She had like a suit jacket. And a tie. >> A tie? >> Yes. >> A tie. About how old is she? >> Early 20s, I would say. >> Okay. >> Dark hair. >> You love dark hair. >> You know, not You know, the funny thing is most of my victims are dark haired. I like blondes, too. >> So All right. I got I got I have something to work with on that. What kind of car Any idea what kind of car it was? >> I have no idea. >> Okay. >> That it was a regular I mean it wasn't a stick that I know. >> The victim that Cottingham is so callously describing has never publicly been named, but police are certain that she existed. Unfortunately, due to poor record keeping, they were unable to find the initial incident report from this attempted murder, which took place in February of 1968. They do, however, have a news article describing the exact horrible attack that Cottingham has told them about, except he's missing a few details. Details that conveniently make him look a lot less cool and collected like he's trying to claim. Cottingham forced his way into the woman's vehicle after posing as a police officer. He flashed a fake badge, then pushed inside threatening the woman with a knife before he handcuffed her hands behind her back. After arriving at a nearby orchard under the cover of darkness, he proceeded to try and assault the victim. That is until police arrived. The woman screamed for help, and when police found her, she was, as the newspaper article describes, nearly hysterical. Given the fact that she was stabbed in the face, yeah, I'd say she had a right to be. Cottingham placing that attack in the vicinity of the well gives police an exact area to search for the supposed three victims that he abandoned there. But how did Cottingham find the well in the first place? And where did the victims come from? >> Now, tell me about the well. How did you ever first find the well? In the beginning, I wanted to find a place to drop the body. But see, I always like to drop them [clears throat] near the side of the street so they could be found easy. And most of them, you'll find all all of them almost all of them in the But in the beginning I didn't think that way. But then I said, "Yeah, I I didn't want these people rotting, you know." >> Mhm. >> So, I got So, I got a little settlement. I said, "If you drop me in the street, somebody will find me in a day or two." But I walk I walk I I I wanted to just [clears throat] got up to take the leap or something. But I walk back. You could walk from this field This field was all solid. This [ __ ] I mean there was no water, no no no swamp. But when you walk back in here if you got about 40 50 ft it turned to swamp. And where where there was actually water, you know. You couldn't actually walk dry. And I was walking back there to see if I could find a place to you know to hide a body. >> Were you by yourself when you first discovered it? Like you were just on a like a scouting mission or did you actually have a body in there that first time, do you know? >> [clears throat] >> I had I had a body. Okay. And uh I had a body. First time I I seen it I didn't know what it was. That's what it was. I walked on it. >> [clears throat] >> And it was tin It was like It was like a galvanized round pipe, you know, like corrugated. Yeah, it was like it was like I'd say 8-ft long, 10-ft long, 5-ft wide. So, that It was a big Yeah, it was a big piece. Cuz I walked on it. I heard this this thing ground on my foot and it was like metal. But it was pitch pitch black. I couldn't see what it was. I didn't have no flashlight or nothing. I didn't carry a flashlight or a lighter or anything. The next time I came back I was earlier. It was only about 8:00 at night. It was still dark. But it was early. It was lighter. The water moon was out or something. So, I went back to see what it was. And I seen it It a metal piece. So, I moved it and I couldn't see nothing. >> [clears throat] >> It was pitch black. So, I dropped the rock. It went down. It sounded like 100 ft, but it went went down about 20 ft, 15-20 ft. And I seen the side the side of it it was like a well. It looked like but not brick like stone or old cinder block or something like like like an old time cistern or something that somebody covered up. So, you could have fell in. And then I said, "Hey, this is a good spot." >> [clears throat] >> Then I I remember the three girls I dropped in there and then then I said when I started thinking about them rotting there I got I said, "That's why I started dropping them." I started the streets. >> So, this they were you only used that well for three bodies. This This would have been the fourth one, but she got away. >> I don't know if I was going to put her in there. Cuz I I after those three were in there I went back in many times, but I I never put nobody else in there. Okay. So, I I don't know what's It wasn't always planned. It was you know, just how how things came out, you know. I don't know if if if we would have if this wasn't if it just looked different to me that time. I thought I might get stuck. That's why I went around the other way. I would have went back. I don't know if I would have dropped her in the well with the fourth one or not. But I brought quite a few others after that that I didn't after I did that I never went back to that one. >> But you would go back to this field. >> Oh, yeah. >> And then and then you would just go dump the body somewhere else. >> Right. This whole area was my killing ground if you want to call it that. Like I said, I wanted this place 20 times, but I always would come up here and then you See, I could only go during the winter. That's the only thing. It had to be a cold month because during the summer this is all corn. You couldn't drive over it. Okay. So, [clears throat] in the winter, it was all cut down. You know, I'm not saying that it could have been fall, but I mean, it had to be not summer or anything when the corn was growing. And I always would come up and then just drive right across right across the field, turn around, and then just drive. You know, I might be over here one time. Yeah, it would have always been within 50 ft. It was always either It was It was a field of people, but they I could command this whole view. >> Mhm. >> And I could, you know, and and there was no traffic. I mean, maybe a car would go by every 10 minutes. That's how little traffic was back then. >> Mhm. >> It was all cornfield. All woods and cornfield. That's why I know if you find out where that that girl where they ride up the girl, then you get land record, you'll know the exact right right to the inch where this second house was. >> Right. >> But the houses aren't there no more. Cuz we went by there. There's no houses there no more. I was [snorts] in three hours I would say there is three hours. >> Well, there might be three hours, but there might be 100 next to them now. >> They're all They're all farmhouses. >> Okay. >> Yeah, it's It's not there. >> It's three quarters to that. >> And and >> So, let's Let me backtrack a bit. So, just for the girl that that So, you're positive you abducted that girl from the Bergen Mall? That's the mall that you you took >> Well, I can't say that. >> Okay. >> I It was either that I'm I'm 90% sure it was the Bergen Mall, but it could have been the Garden State Mall. >> Okay. [clears throat] But it's one of the malls >> One of those two. >> Okay. >> I guarantee 100% It was about uh It was dark. I would say it was probably about 6:30, 6:00, 6:30. >> And give me just approximate year. >> Then it would have to be up in the early '70s. The early '70s. >> Okay. >> Later, Cottingham confirms that the murder of these three unknown girls took place between 1970 and 1973. And sadly, we say girls because Cottingham was no stranger to attacking children. Out of the 20 confirmed victims Cottingham has revealed to police in the past 40 years, a quarter of them were under the age of 18. And sadly, those are just the murders that Cottingham was comfortable confessing to. Who these three girls in the well were, we still don't know to this day. Police were able to track the estimated location of the well, but it has since been covered over by a business and a parking lot, making it impossible to locate and excavate. Over [snorts] 50 years later, these girls' families are still waiting for answers, and Cottingham is still reveling in the sick glow of their murders. >> The three The three girls that are in the well, any ideas to help with those, like Do you remember them at all? >> No. >> Where they came from, how they were killed, anything? >> One was One was I think so. No, I'm not sure. It was a Right here, no fur I used to go in there. And I'm pretty sure And one was a waitress. I remember she was a waitress. >> From where? >> I don't know. I don't know. >> Locals? >> Locals in the area, but I don't know where. I think she was She was young, too, I think. I'm not sure. >> [clears throat] >> And the other The other girl could be a blonde from Atlantic City, but I'm not sure. I don't know. That's what I say, I'm mixed I'm mixed up all just Sometimes it's one after the other, and then sometimes for 6 months I didn't do anything. you know. You know? >> What would make you bring a girl from Atlantic City all the way up here? Did you go down there? >> Yeah, I was living in Atlantic City. >> What would have made you bring her all the way up here? >> Cuz that's where I brought them all. That's what I think it is. Almost Almost everyone was Not all of them. >> Right. >> But almost everyone was. >> So let's assume for a minute that you killed a girl in this field. Forget the welfare of it. You You killed a girl in this field. What would you do then? You would you would you just take your dead body, put it in your car, to go dump it somewhere? >> Well, I would If I was in her car, I would just go to different places. You know, I've gone up to New York State. I've driven from there all the way out to the end of Long Island. >> How would you get back? >> What? >> How would you get back? >> I would just drop the money and then come back with the car. And drop the car wherever. Sometimes it would be in my own car. But I never I never drove my own car across state. >> No, no. Were you afraid to get stopped? >> knew if I got stopped, I could just run. >> Right. >> I never never took my car in there. But I said a lot of times I would leave them in the palm, the 24-hour diners, cuz it was good. Cuz I could stay there forever. Nobody would ever know. Nobody would look for it. And I could always I always knew once I get I make it back to that diner, I'm okay. >> Even if I was able to find it, yeah. Nothing says that it's not developed all over that I don't know. Australia to New York. Or that obviously we would even we'd have no You know, who knows how we would even identify anybody in it. I don't even know. But obviously I'd like to find it because we would like to put these three girls to rest somewhere. >> But that would hit the papers. That's what scares me. >> That that you couldn't cover it up. >> If they found a body, it's now. >> No, but that doesn't That doesn't mean that it's you that hit the papers unless you decided to accept responsibility. >> You know, I thought of this too. And then they would say, "How How How did you know it was located over there? You know, you know, a reporters aren't stupid either. You know. >> I had an incident a little order trying to find this. >> Yeah. >> I mean, you know, I knew last time when we drove down there that it's just changed so much. That it was not never going to work. But, we'll try it. I'll try it again. >> In exchange for speaking so openly with police, Cottingham has struck a deal that he has immunity from being prosecuted for the murder of these women, which given the fact that he's got more than one sentence of life imprisonment isn't the real issue. The real issue he has is evidently with the media learning about his crimes because despite being a serial killer who took advantage of countless women and left dozens of parents without children, he's concerned about his own children because shockingly he had three. When he was arrested in 1980, his daughter was just 7 years old and sent him letters like this where she innocently offered her dad a unicorn sticker. Still to this day, he's trying to keep his family life and serial killing life separate. >> But, I always figured that's why nobody ever knew what was going on because I I would drive 3 hours out to Montauk. You would bury it. Next time I'd go there, well, we're down the turnpike so I couldn't go no further than that. You would bury it. So, they were never never connected. Never two or three until they were buried. And then I got started getting stupid. >> What What do you think what's What year is the first do you think? Do you have any year in your head or do you have no idea? >> Well, I can write it down for you. 1 or 2 years. >> What do you think? How far back? >> 67. 60s Maybe the end of 66. 67. >> [snorts] >> It's a lot of years of running around. >> Other states, too. >> Yeah. Do you have any Do you have number in your head that you think? Do you ever Did you ever sit back and think about it? >> It's safe to say I couldn't count that high. They They They start to get jumbled. I would say it's well over 80. >> You think that many? >> Well over. Yeah. I done some in Florida. Connecticut But there you go. >> Mhm. >> Pennsylvania, New Jersey Baltimore >> Right. >> Any place within driving distance that was not connected to me I would try. >> Right. >> My whole thing was not to make a pattern, which I never did. Not and not with the try to kill them in the exact same way or to, you know, leave a signature. You know. I wasn't I wasn't stupid, you know, and >> Other than >> one time in Hackensack where just luck, I would have been caught dead. >> Right. >> I was never even even close to getting caught. >> Other than that one time. Did you end up dumping that girl after that cop stopped you? >> I don't know. I don't remember. I don't even remember who she was, but I was coming back from Montclair at the time. That's where it was at. I was coming back coming down the road. I was doing a day tour. I never really did anything during the day, but it was like 11:00 at night in the morning. >> Richard Cottingham did drop bodies in differing locations, from hotel rooms to parking lots, to victims' homes and nearby rivers. His MO did work for a time. In the '60s and '70s, the term serial killer was just coming into use, and no one suspected that the variety of murders he committed were connected. Though, a big part of that isn't because Cottingham is smart, it's because policing was frankly not smart at the time. The incident that he's just discussed, where he was almost caught, took place sometime in the early 1970s. Allegedly, he had a deceased victim in the back of his vehicle when he was pulled over for a minor driving infraction. Rather than let the cops see his backseat, he got out of his vehicle and approached the cop car to show the officer his license and registration. Yeah, don't try that one at home, ladies and gentlemen. >> There were a lot of a lot of run-a-lot of lot of runaways. You see a lot of a lot of the girls hitchhikers, runaways. There's a lot of hitchhikers back then, too. >> Oh, everybody hitchhiked. >> Yeah. Every day going away, I I get I I see them all the time. Let's see. That was the thing with me. I I wasn't I wasn't a serial killer. And and >> No, you just told me you think you killed over 80. Fit the definition pretty well. No, it doesn't, but I know he said cuz you told me in the past there's been many more that you let go. >> Hundreds, you know. You know, it's I didn't go out to kill somebody. Most anyone I killed was when I would be somehow connected to them and I didn't want to get caught. It was more than just not getting caught. I you know, I was just thinking about myself. >> What do you mean connected? Meaning like somebody might have seen her get in the car or >> Yeah, like in the Bergen Mall. You know, I walked around the mall. I walked in the park and I walked out of there into the park. And if anybody was sitting in the car, to me in my mind, I don't know if anybody seen me. >> Yeah. >> You know, that's to me, you know, like I tell you one time in Atlantic City and I met a girl in the in the uh in the uh in Rejoice. She went with me and brought her back up here. In my mind, hey, I could be on a camera down there or whatever. So, those are the ones I couldn't leave. But if if the girl wasn't dangerous to me, I never I never went out to kill. That's why I didn't think I said I'm not really like a standing through the killer. I didn't I didn't get any enjoyment out of it anyway. And that's the truth. Never had no joy. It was very hard. >> So, what was the thrill? What was Control? Tying up? >> The The game. It was being able to get away with it. >> The stalking? >> The The being able to To be able to do it. It was like the perfect murder every time. You see something in the paper that a body was trying to You never heard anything cuz there was never nothing after that. You know, no cops ever came around me or sniffed around like they used to do on TV. It was getting away with it. And uh Even my cops It was control. But, I mean, my my men didn't even know. Sometimes I lied to them sometimes. It was more tough. I used to say the hardest See, I When I was doing The hardest thing in the world is to be And I mean to be >> A prosecutor. >> Mhm. >> Right. >> The outcasts of the day are sharp. You don't understand that cuz you never was in the We were saying New York City The city, they were sharp. And they would never do anything, >> [clears throat] >> ever, till you paid them first. I mean, it was like a religion. But, I would get them so greedy by showing so much money. I would I would show them a wad like thousands of $100 They would go crazy. And I'd appear I I always appeared innocent, naive, green. I I played act. Like I didn't know what I was doing, you know, I had to afraid around them and we going to get caught or all this stuff. So, when they wanted to get a robbery. And it was the game to get Most times we went out drinking, I I'd get them drinking, get them drunk, get them in a room. I never paid them. And that's that was the majority of the thing that they beat them out of their money. Because they were going to try to beat me out of it. I mean, I had cases I had a case right here right on Route 46. She was so greedy. She took my She She was from the waist up. She grabbed my pants, ran out of the room with my pants, and left her her shirt behind. And she runs right into to a guy next door. He opens the door. I heard the noise. I thought she was stealing your wallet. I was telling you that She was. Yeah, she grabbed it. She got about $1,100 from me. So, the only one that ever got away. Got my money. I got them all of them. She She did. Yeah, cuz I never thought she'd run out without her clothes. You know, so I'm pretending I'm drunk and I'm laying I'm laying there everything. Man, she made a bee-line for >> That's classic. >> Oh, I can tell you stories, sir. >> I know you can. I know you can. >> Despite being positively confirmed as having killed 20 women and girls, Cottingham wants to make one thing clear. He's not a serial killer. Even though he's bragging repeatedly about having somewhere between 80 and 100 victims. But to Cottingham, it's increasingly clear that the victims aren't people in his eyes. They're greedy for wanting to be paid what they were promised, or loose for getting in a vehicle with him in the first place. >> The The girl that you told me about that looks like that actress Sherry. >> Do you remember if this is up there? >> No. >> I remember I remember >> I don't want to feed you. >> No, I cuz I want to hear your what you remember about it. >> I don't remember. >> You had You had good detail on it. You really did. >> I remember it was a girl that the name of the picture was Roswell. >> Yes. >> That's the name of the picture you drew there. Every time I looked at picture, reminded me of [clears throat] that girl. >> Correct. >> Looked exactly like her for some reason. >> Exactly what you thought. >> know. That that that I remember. I got to play it back in my head. >> Do you remember cuz you told me you followed her from a store? >> In Hackensack. >> Sears store Yeah, Sears store. >> Sears and Roebuck. >> Does that bring Does that bring it back? >> No, I didn't follow her to Roebuck store. I followed I met her in Sears. >> Okay. >> I seen that she was buying something. She bought something in Sears. She purchased something in Sears. Um a scarf or something like that. And I followed her out of the store. And she walked down Main Street towards the movie theaters down there. I thought I was just walking behind her seeing where she was going. And she stopped at one of the stores. Either right before the movies or right after the movies. I was looking in the window and I went up next to her and I started talking to her. And I tried I was trying to get her to go to if she wanted to go to the movie. And she said no, she had to be home by 10:00 or something like that. So I I'm trying to figure out how how can I get her for some drinks to get some liquor into her or whatever like that. That was right That was right by the movie theaters. >> How did you get her? >> I I I told her I asked her I got her to agree to go for one drink. >> Do you remember how old she was? >> Uh >> I I think I I don't know how old I was at the time. I don't know what year it was, but I think she was pretty close to my age. She was We were you know I think the early 20s, if I'm not mistaken. But she she was right around my age. >> Okay. >> I think she I think she told me she was divorced. Not sure. I think she told me she was divorced or split up with her husband or >> Already in the early 20s? >> Yeah. I don't remember something like that. They split up or Or might have been a boyfriend. >> I think [clears throat] that >> Cuz we talked about something like that. I don't remember exactly now. >> And where did you end up going? >> I got I got to go to the Holiday Inn in Little Ferry on the circle there. That's where I had my car parked. >> Did you have to walk there? >> No, we we took a bus. >> Oh, okay. >> No, no, we took a cab. We took a cab We wanted to get a bus and there were no buses that were going down. I was trying to get the bus that I used to catch a bus in Little Ferry to go to New York. So the bus came from up in Hackensack. So I was trying to catch the bus that came through Hackensack to go to Little Ferry and either it was none at that time of night or I don't know if it was a weekend or not. I don't remember. >> [clears throat] >> But we went up we went up taking a cab. We took the cab to Little Ferry. The Little Ferry is where I had my I didn't tell her Yeah, I didn't want to mention the Holiday Inn itself and you know, it's at the thing, but I told her we a nice lounge there. And I said my car is parked there cuz I parked That's another place I parked my car. I mean, they said the Valley Forge parked it in the the Holiday Inn parking lot because nobody You know, you park it in a lot like this, they leave it. If I never had to come back in 2 days, it would still be here and nobody would say a word to the security, you know? So, I parked the ladder funds right there. And uh And we went into the lounge. There was only like about 10 people in there. It was really really empty, I remember that. I thought this was good cuz we sat in the back. But I got the feeling she wasn't going to do nothing, you know? I You know, I just You know how you can tell, you know? She had two drinks. I got the second drink and told her. I can tell you one thing. I would I would If they If they have I can tell you what's next, man. I can tell you what's That's what I'm saying. Pizza. Do you like eating pizza there? No, no, not there. Lake Lounge, but we stopped and got some pizza back at 11:00 at night. >> Okay. >> I think it happened since But that's where you want You want some pizza later. So, let let she should have pizza. >> And then where'd you go? >> [snorts] >> No, I'm not telling you too much. We haven't made no deal yet. We ain't talking You got me talking about anything. >> Nothing you didn't tell me on the car ride back to Trenton. >> I don't remember that. >> I can show you my notes. Back then I had a Blackberry. While Jimmy McMillan was driving, you were in the back seat talking, I was texting my I was uh emailing myself on my BlackBerry bullet points of what you were saying. So, I wouldn't forget the detail you were giving me. >> I remember that. Cuz I remember Now, I don't remember telling you about thing, but I remember I remember one time going back I said, "He's recording what I was" That's what I thought you were doing. >> No, it wasn't. Yeah, >> He's recording one thing. >> I was typing Actually, I was typing out myself on my shut up because he's re- I was typing out here >> You doing something from the back. >> I didn't want to forget what you were saying. Cuz you were giving a lot of detail. So, where where did you end up taking her to after Beach? Where did you end up actually killing her? >> No, for now I'm going to leave that. >> This is where Cottingham is starting to get nervous because he's just given police a missing piece of a puzzle for not just one victim he's never told them about before, but three. The first victim was 18-year-old Irene Blaze who Cottingham offered a ride, then strangled her before dumping her in a river. The second victim, who he is confusing with the first, is Denise Felasca. She was killed just 3 months after Irene Blaze and found on the side of a road just over a mile away. Two victims connected because Cottingham can't seem to keep all the people he's killed straight. But there's another problem with the story he's told intertwining the two. Forensics later revealed that neither of them had pizza in their system, [music] meaning that likely he's confusing them with yet another one of his victims. >> We got to still work out a deal and we still got to We got We got to work I understand before I start doing all this. >> This number right here doesn't mean nothing. I could throw this away. >> I want to I want to see what if it matches what I have upstairs in my notes. Want to make sure that your your your memory hasn't faded in the last 4 years. >> [snorts] >> I know my memory has faded a lot. >> Do you remember it all? >> I remember [ __ ] And that's how I call it. I had never heard of Roswell. >> You told me never knew I never I never heard of the show Roswell until you told me. The funny thing is the show came out 10 15 years later. Yeah, but then I think it was in the 90s the show came out. And that's when I remember it. Yeah, right soon as I seen that I thought that reminds me of that girl. But at that time I didn't know anything about Roswell. Mhm. Do you remember saying she was a dead ringer? Do you remember where you dumped her? Yeah. You know for sure? Town or just >> [sighs and gasps] >> or you just think you remember just in your head you're seeing it? You got to remember you got to remember everything was so different back then. I know. So then what makes then you just said yes quickly when I asked you do you know where you dumped her? What What makes you say yes then? Are you Do you just have a vision of it or do you know what street or do you know what town? I think I know pretty close to where I dropped her. Okay. I'm not sure though. I'm pretty sure but I'm not sure. What the [ __ ] does that mean? Because when I start thinking about something then I think well maybe that was this one. Right. You know, maybe Like I said, I just Now I just remember she had We had the pizza. I had you know, little things like that. You know, just for some reason I remember it. Right. But you know, I I But where do you think you dumped her? Well, now I'm going to keep that. I'll tell you if you're wrong. What do you What do you I think I dumped her in a river, or a stream. >> Okay. Any idea what happened? >> I'm not I'm not sure if she went in the water or not. It was too dark. >> Okay. >> I heard a little water. I looked down. I couldn't see if she went in the water. I couldn't even see her. >> Mhm. >> It went down a a steep like an 8-ft drop. It was very sharp. >> Mhm. >> And the only thing I would say is below Hackensack. If you went down there, that's a creek. Who would say if you got out of Hackensack? >> Do you remember how she was killed? >> Probably asphyxiated. Prob. >> Cuz that's how I did most of mine. >> Right. >> You don't Do you remember specifically with her? >> No. >> Okay. So, you're just kind of guessing cuz >> No, no, you know what I'm saying? From when I'm going on the rule of averages. Yeah, yeah, I mean she I know she wasn't shot. I didn't shoot you know. >> Yeah, no, I know that. >> You know, things like that, you know. Well, like the >> the girl up here >> Like the girl up here in New State, which is not, you know, not your >> That was very unique, and that's only cuz I panicked. Yeah, I I didn't intend to And and it was it was a steak knife. That's It was a steak knife, and the knife broke. That's another [clears throat] factor. You find it the incident, you'll see. >> Okay, then. >> It wasn't even It wasn't a a regular knife like a a guy who was a steak knife from one of the places we stopped at. That food steak knife. >> If I told you that girl that the girl that I'm thinking of laugh to death time. >> [clears throat] >> Did that bring back any memory? Not that it it was not by any means what killed her. >> [sighs] >> See Probably. See I used to the knife with them. You know, that's why I always put the little marks on them. And sometimes I They would like sometimes. >> Mhm. So, that could be possible, but it wouldn't have been like a five or anything like that. >> Irene Blaze, one of his victims, was stabbed in the back a single time, not to kill her, but to inflict pain. Out of his 20 confirmed killings, 11 women were strangled, and four of them, nearly half, had additional knife wounds that wouldn't have been fatal. >> I wouldn't sit there and think about these things. I try not to even think about these things. >> Well, Rich, so many things to um you're thinking of like if you were to give me everything you got, that somehow I'm going to put it put it to dozens of murders all over the place. You see the the the lack of detail you have on on a lot of these things, and even though the detail, like you said, you think is with one, it might belong to another one. >> I'm being honest. >> And I'm being easy to think, or maybe not be this may not be as successful as you as you think it would be in terms of what I might successful mean on my end. Um and that's why I project for someone's detail because that's about the only way that you could figure out one case from another. >> I told you in the very very beginning, most of the detail there is not going to be detail. The most of the details be I dropped this body off at road mark so far on the Jersey Turnpike. And you look up and you'll find a body was dropped there. But now, for me to tell you what girl it was, I can't remember. The one I dropped I dropped off way out in Long Island. I remember driving out there. I remember I could go to the street, go down here, I went there, I turned the corner, and then I There was a fence there, I threw over the fence. But the 10 gauge was it the one I got hitchhiking over here in Paramus? So, what is No, until I know more facts or I see a picture or something distinctive or something, I you know, there was just too many. I I just don't remember. I can tell you how I always did these things, but you know, See, you might think the number I threw out 80 is a big lie. But for every one that I killed, I've done this to 30 other girls. For every one, hundreds. I was out there every night like an animal. And mostly, I said, I didn't kill everything. So, I have those pictures in my mind, too. I'll remember funny things and this and that. Oh, no, she's still there. She's still walking around or whatever. Like, no, no. Well, that would have been for like 3 months. >> Yeah. >> No, I didn't kill her, you know. Longer than that. Was it? >> I think longer, yeah. >> That's all I remember. I'm sorry. >> Yeah. >> I don't remember anything. >> [clears throat] >> As of the publishing of this video, Cottingham is still being investigated for murders in numerous states, including Florida, Maryland, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. >> Well, I don't remember ever hitting that. Ever? >> I think she was right in neighbors. >> I just didn't. And then you got to remember, I had regular girlfriends. You know, you know, I was juggling a girlfriend here, my wife here, girlfriend here, and then her was here, you know, I'd go from one to I mean, it was it was a comedy. I'd leave work at 11:00. I'd go up and I'd pick that mother for your hustle. I'd take her down to one of the boys planning in the suburb. We spent till 2:00, take her back and then go over to Barbara Lucas's house. Spend an hour or two there, then I drive Then I'd go home and I'd be home by 5:00, 5:30. And this was a constant thing. >> So what made you on certain nights say go see your girlfriend versus end up going out and and look And there was there anything that triggered it? Like what made you want to hunt on a certain night? >> I didn't ever say I was I I'm I'm very I >> Well, what made you like let's say what what would make you go scout looking for to to hurt a girl? Versus what >> Is there anything that happened during the day? Like is there something you can look back on and go, "You know what? I'm going to try to do this tonight." I'm just curious. >> I'm just interested. I'm actually intrigued. Because that when you brought up the girlfriends you had and the things that kept you busy, it was like what then what what then did you end up being What what happened like on a certain day versus that would make you be like, "I want to do this tonight." versus I want to go by Barbara Lucas's house or I'm going to go over here. An animal. I >> So you can't point to some particular thing that would like on this on on the days that I did this, I would get mad at somebody or I'd be >> No, nothing like that. I went scout every day. 7 days a week. 10 years, 13 years. Every day. I went to pick up my car. That's how I met her now. I went to pick up my car and it was on my >> They were on 42nd Street and she was right in Times Square. >> And I just walked back and talked to her. I got her to come back and wait outside my job till I got off work. Things just like that, you know. But I was always looking for for an opportunity or Like you see, that's what I say, it was so I just had the knack I could pick up women. I I just I I know what it was. I'm not a great looking guy. I don't know what it was, but I could walk a block and I could see her walking down the block and within a block know if I could get her into a motel [clears throat] or something. You know, I'd go out to Baskin-Robbins I'd go out to Baskin-Robbins and pick up a girl just right on the street between my job and Baskin-Robbins was only two blocks. And I'd have her come and sit in my car and wait for me 3 4 hours till I got off work. And then, you know, things would happen. But every time when I got off work at 11:00 I'd go one of the strolls that's pretty close to where I work and I'd always go down there. And I'd make my little routine loose. I'd see I'd always look for new girls. You know, the old Well, the old old-time girls never paid attention to me cuz they know I didn't send no money with them. You know, it's uh You know, I never spent a dime actually. I That was my truth. But then my job was like I had to be on the task all the time and then they'd come down and I'd be in the bars and you know. But this was 7 nights a week. I drank 7 nights a week. I went out with girls. Every night. What I did to my poor wife. She didn't have a clue. >> No. Well, probably better she didn't know but it's probably better than she knew. I guarantee she knew. >> What she thought I was cheating on her? >> Right. >> You know, she she always accused me of that cuz I mean I never came home till 5:00 6:00 in the morning. >> Yeah. >> And I'd come in drunk every night. And I worked so Now, the thing too, I worked so I went work 2 years straight without a day off. Christmas. We had I was making so much That's why I always had money. I was making so much money. I started working $57 a week there and my first year I made over $7,000. >> Cottingham would like people to believe that he was a great pickup artist with a natural charm, but he's leaving a very important detail out. How he really got women wasn't by wooing them. He got them by offering them rides, drugging them, paying them, or taking advantage of them. Now, you're about to hear Cottingham describe a woman, Nancy Vogel, as a hussy, for lack of a more YouTube-friendly word. His story is a perfect example of how he twists the narrative to try and act like the women he attacked somehow deserved it. Nancy Vogel was a 29-year-old mother of two who knew Cottingham because he was often in the neighborhood. One night she decided to stop by the mall before playing bingo at her local church. We reiterate, bingo at her local church. She instead went to the mall to pick up something. On the way back to her car, she encountered Cottingham, who forced his way into her car, drove her to a remote field, and killed her. That doesn't sound like the woman that you're about to hear him describe. >> So, what what do you think is going to help you then put details on these things? I mean, I don't I don't want to like show you pictures or I don't want to, you know, it's really it's really just talking about it to me seems like detail comes back to you. I mean, you had a lot of detail on the the Vogel the Nancy Vogel one, the one that we got big like What made that one stick in your head so much? >> I went out with her. She I hate to say she I don't want to You know, the times we dated and everything. I mean, she was a nice woman. But she was very unhappy. [clears throat] She picked me up. >> Uh-huh. >> And uh I went out with her about four or five times. Yeah, we had drinks right in that Holiday Inn there cuz she used to go to the Valley Fair. And we go over to the Valley and to this Holiday Inn. We That place was anonymous. She'd go into that lounge. She was never really full. It was always empty. And you can stay by yourself in a corner booth. But I didn't have really that I didn't remember. I remember basically where I dropped it. That's That's what I remember most of it. >> What you say? >> You know. See, there's also cases that if I tell you the truth, you'll think I'm lying. >> Like what? What does that mean? >> I think I told you once before that I just by the walk of it, but just by happenstance, you can kill somebody one way and it will appear to be a different way. >> Like I did I did things in all different ways. >> But I told you that at the very beginning. >> You did tell me that. I remember. You did tell me that at the very beginning. >> Cuz I always said, you know, this is the perfect murder. I mean, they can't tell obviously. Then you know, I didn't I didn't know what about it. I said, well, you know, the heat dries dries everything up. dries. Why would you think somebody's drowned? The only way to tell is water in the lungs. So, that's, you know, the lungs are collapsed. They just smothered. >> The story that Cottingham is telling here is about the double homicide of 16-year-old Lorraine Kelly and 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor, two teenage girls who he kidnapped when they were trying to hitchhike to a local mall. He took the girls to a hotel where he tied them to one another, beat them, and then killed them by drowning them in the hotel bathtub. Though this interrogation is taking place in 2014, Richard didn't fully admit to their murders until 2021, intentionally dragging out the suffering that their family endured even longer. >> And in our cases, right here. >> Well, you have to enlighten me so I can look at them. >> That's down the line. >> Yeah, but you have to enlighten me cuz I I don't know that I did. >> But that's But that's what I know. But that's That's why I'm saying that if I if I tell you the truth, you'll think I'm lying. So I can tell you a lie and you'll think I'm telling the truth. >> Not at all. Not at all. Yeah, I got I need you to tell me what you remember. That's all. I mean, and if it marries up to something, it marries up to something. If it doesn't, then uh then it doesn't. Oh, you know. You know? >> No. >> So what do you think? What do you What do you When you you keep saying we'll come to an agreement. What is What is an agreement? What is What is that mean? Tell me what that means in your mind. Besides the obvious that I know already, which is you're looking for it not to get back to your children. >> Well, that's that's the main the main thing. Well, we got to talk about what I'm going to get out of it. The food tonight. >> The satisfaction of righting [clears throat] a wrong. And I think you're almost I I think you're almost at that point. What do you want for dinner? >> Let's start with the simple. What do we eat What do we eat tonight? Cuz this is getting We're We're getting off track here. >> All right. What What is What is it What do you think of the dinner tonight? What kind of food? >> I really don't know. >> Anything striking your fancy at the moment? >> Everything, nothing. You know, it's like I don't need anything expensive, you know, I mean >> No, that's That's good cuz I didn't really want to splurge on you cuz you haven't given me anything. >> True. Could I be frank? Take my little bit. >> Really? >> Yeah. I don't eat that. >> Really? >> No, I'm not trying to get touchy-feely. >> No, I can't even Well, you make a suggestion. >> I'll think of something. All right. I got to think of something. Excuse me, man. This is the worst diagram I've ever seen. I thought you were such a such a good drawer. >> It makes me Great great drawer. I can't even pick up anything anymore. >> The interrogation you've just seen is one of dozens that took place from Cottingham's arrest in 1980 all the way up to this year. Through excruciating work, several police departments have worked together to get answers for grieving families and for the public. So far, the victims of Cottingham that have been confirmed are as follows: Alice Jean Eberhardt in 1965, Mary Ann Della Sala and Nancy Vogel in 1967, Diane Cusick and Jackie Harp in 1968, Irene Blaze and Denise Balaska in 1969, Lorraine McGraw in 1970, Mary Beth Hines and Laverne Moy in 1972, Sheila Heima and Marita Rosado Nieves in 1973, Lorraine Kelly, Mary Ann Prior, and an undisclosed victim in 1974 or 1975, Mary Ann Carr in 1977, Didi Godarzi and an unidentified Jane Doe in 1979, and finally Valerie Ann Street and Mary Ann Jean Gidney Rainer in 1980. This isn't counting the countless victims that are unnamed out there. Our thoughts are with everyone whom this monster affected. As of now, Richard Cottingham is serving multiple life sentences for these murders, but we know not even that is enough. Hopefully, in time, all of his victims will be located and granted the peace that they deserve after a horrific incident that was in no way their fault. Thank you for watching today's video. Whether you're new here or have been with us for a while, check out one of the craziest cases I've ever covered right here or one of my newest uploads right here.